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Here is the judgment [1] it seems very sensible, and shows how laws should react to tech. [1] https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/judgments/transport-for-london-v-ube

Here is the judgment [1] it seems very sensible, and shows how laws should react to tech. [1] https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/judgments/transport-for-london-v-uber-london-ltd-licensed-taxi-drivers-association-licensed-private-hire-car-association/ https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/judgments/transport-for-london-...

amelius 11y ago
Could you perhaps elaborate a little on this? Because from the article: > Mr Justice Ouseley declared that taximeters do not operate in the same way as the app as they do not depend on GPS signals or include the app's other new-tech characteristics to calculate fares. How is this a sensible remark? The app functions in exactly the same way as a taximeter, only the implementation is different.
- matthewmacleod 11y ago
  How is this a sensible remark? The app functions in exactly the same way as a taximeter, only the implementation is different. You can read the judgement for more information, it's pretty detailed. A device for recording time and distance is not a device for calculating a fare based on time and distance, let alone one based on more than that, including the fare structure itself, a necessary component to the calculation. The language of the statute is quite clear. The essence of a taximeter for the purpose of section 11 is that the device must be for the calculation of the fare then to be charged, based on whatever inputs are appropriate. Such a device is not simply recording and transmitting some or all of the inputs to a calculation made elsewhere, or receiving the output, that is the calculated fare. The Smartphone is not a “thing designed or adapted for a particular functional purpose” namely calculating fares for the PHV; see the Shorter OED. It is not a taximeter. The Smartphone with its Driver’s App may be essential to enabling the calculation to take place but that does not make it a device for calculating fares.
  - eterm 11y ago
    Doesn't this allow for any taximeter that farms the calculation to a server and gets the fare back? In theory doesn't this open up a lot of competing taxi-meters which are effectively thin-client taximeters?
  - wzdd 11y ago
    Your quoted text actually justifies Amelius' assertion: the functional category is the same, but the implementation differs, and the judgement (and the law) hinges on implementation. All this means is that the definition of taximeter (as a single-purpose device) is now outdated. It's actually a pretty bad example of the law adjusting to new technologies. Just because we like the outcome doesn't mean we have to like the way it happened.

amelius 11y ago

Could you perhaps elaborate a little on this? Because from the article: > Mr Justice Ouseley declared that taximeters do not operate in the same way as the app as they do not depend on GPS signals or include the app's other new-tech characteristics to calculate fares. How is this a sensible remark? The app functions in exactly the same way as a taximeter, only the implementation is different.

matthewmacleod 11y ago
How is this a sensible remark? The app functions in exactly the same way as a taximeter, only the implementation is different. You can read the judgement for more information, it's pretty detailed. A device for recording time and distance is not a device for calculating a fare based on time and distance, let alone one based on more than that, including the fare structure itself, a necessary component to the calculation. The language of the statute is quite clear. The essence of a taximeter for the purpose of section 11 is that the device must be for the calculation of the fare then to be charged, based on whatever inputs are appropriate. Such a device is not simply recording and transmitting some or all of the inputs to a calculation made elsewhere, or receiving the output, that is the calculated fare. The Smartphone is not a “thing designed or adapted for a particular functional purpose” namely calculating fares for the PHV; see the Shorter OED. It is not a taximeter. The Smartphone with its Driver’s App may be essential to enabling the calculation to take place but that does not make it a device for calculating fares.
- eterm 11y ago
  Doesn't this allow for any taximeter that farms the calculation to a server and gets the fare back? In theory doesn't this open up a lot of competing taxi-meters which are effectively thin-client taximeters?
- wzdd 11y ago
  Your quoted text actually justifies Amelius' assertion: the functional category is the same, but the implementation differs, and the judgement (and the law) hinges on implementation. All this means is that the definition of taximeter (as a single-purpose device) is now outdated. It's actually a pretty bad example of the law adjusting to new technologies. Just because we like the outcome doesn't mean we have to like the way it happened.